We need to go back to last years style of play

[closg00]

So the plan going into the off-season was to field a team that would play at high-speeds and shoot the corner 3. What we did was get two players coming-off of back and foot surgeries perspectively, and a mediocre guard in Neal, and combine them with aging front court players and a converted stretch-4 in Humphries. This is a tall-order for Randy, Wall/Beal cannot do it all.

If we're gonna run, throw KO into some line-up mixes even if he is raw, he couldn't be worse than Neal right now.

[nate33]

So the plan going into the off-season was to field a team that would play at high-speeds and shoot the corner 3. What we did was get two players coming-off of back and foot surgeries perspectively, and a mediocre guard in Neal, and combine them with aging front court players and a converted stretch-4 in Humphries. This is a tall-order for Randy, Wall/Beal cannot do it all.

If we're gonna run, throw KO into some line-up mixes even if he is raw, he couldn't be worse than Neal right now.

To be fair, EG didn't exactly have a lot of options. He had to add these players using only cap exceptions and without adding any long term salary. You don't get top notch players one 1-year deals for sub-MLE money during an offseason when Enes Kanter, Wes Matthews and Tristan Thompson got max or near-max money.

[TheSecretWeapon]

They wanted to preserve their ability to go after Durant or another free agent, which I understand and support. That said, they had to have been able to do better than Gary Neal. Neal hasn't been mediocre in three years. He was terrible last season. He was bad the season before that, and wasn't much above replacement level his last year in San Antonio. Like Anderson's contract, the best thing that can be said of Neal's deal is that it's for just one year.

[DCZards]

1. Went to the game on Saturday and some guys were clearly winded, especially old heads like Gooden. The new pace-and-space offense is taking its toll. But I also believe that most of the Zards will work themselves into better playing shape in a week or two now that they're playing regular season ball.
2. Dudley's body has always looked like he's never lifted weights. He's a little pudgy but not worried about that too much since he's coming off a back injury and clearly needs to get in better shape. Jared will be fine.
3. I also noticed how thick Neal's body, including his butt, is. I don't recall him being that heavy in the past. Dude needs to get in better shape.
4. Porter knocking down the 3 with some consistency and Dudley working out the rust on a his three point shot are essential to the success of the new offense.
5. No reason to panic after three games and change the offensive scheme. That would be a lot like throwing the baby out with the bathwater. There are 2-1 after all.

[J-Ves]

I think we need more time with this style of play. In theory we should be turning the ball over less with this setup, right now the turnovers are out of control. I think that comes from the newness of the offense and in time the TOs will happen less. Gortat has been terrible so far, but with the extra spacing we should be seeing more pnr plays in the future.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

[fishercob]

Gary Neal's ass is bigger than most rap video girls. Bigger than Seraphin's IMO. Look for it next time you're watching, you'll be surprised. Dude has ass for days!

Methinks you are spending too much time looking at Neal's ass.

I haven't gotten laid in months.

That can't be. That just cannot be. Now I just don't know what to believe in.

[AFM]

Methinks you are spending too much time looking at Neal's ass.

I haven't gotten laid in months.

That can't be. That just cannot be. Now I just don't know what to believe in.

Don't worry my friend. It's been of my own accord. Trying to develop my will power. Right now I am approaching Zen Buddhist monk status. Monks believe that ejaculation is the exit of life force or "chi" from your body. You are depleting your body every time you ejaculate. Like opening a spigot on a water tank. Haw haw but not me! I'm just building up that water pressure slowly but surely, becoming more powerful every day!

[tontoz]

[montestewart]

I haven't gotten laid in months.

Fleshlight doesn't count?

[AFM]

I haven't gotten laid in months.

Fleshlight doesn't count?

I've been using an LED flashlight stuffed between my boxspring and my mattress. Almost as good as a fleshlight, and I've gotten a nice tan down there as well.

[Dat2U]

I have five concerns when watching the Wiz...

1. Hump & Porter are not effectively spacing the floor. They may be shooting 3s... teams are still not respecting it... yet. I expect Porter to bounce back and find his stroke and make teams pay. Hump... will need to make teams pay first, either way it leads into problem #2 below. Hump has yet to earn the respect of NBA defenses... despite shooting so well from mid-range and this has been a consistent drag on our offense whenever Hump is in the lineup. I'm not sure Hump taking 1-2 3s a game will ever change this. Either he starts letting the 3s fly or having him as the starting PF may simply not work.

2. Teams are taking away the Wall/Gortat P&R by cheating off Hump & Porter and it's severely impacting Gortat's effectiveness offensively. He's been a TO machine. Nene may be out of the starting lineup but it's not helping Gortat any right now offensively and is hurting him defensively (going from Nene to Hump is a huge step down on the defensive side).

3. Bradley Beal's defense. Is it just me or has it been really bad? It seems to me he's resting on that side of the ball a bit more... possibly due to the pace of the game and the fact he's trying to be more aggressive offensively. I'm not too concerned yet and certainly it's only 3 games but it's something that bears watching.

4. Gary Neal. Please, just please someone get him off the court! He's a train wreck on both sides of the ball. He's a complete ball-stopper offensively and his defense is even worse! IMO he's a long ways away from not being a total disaster on the court too. I would look at cutting him or buying him out right away. This is why the Alan Anderson injury really hurt us. Neal has absolutely killed us in 56 minutes so far this season. At some point the coaching staff will have to recognize this or it could really hurt us going forward. No reason not to play Temple instead. IMO we *could* have beaten the Knicks if Temple had played instead of Neal. The defensive rotations would have been much sharper and Temple certainly doesn't dominate the rock & stagnate ball movement offensively.

5. TOs. Wall has been way too loose with the ball for comfort. His TOs are the one black mark so far on his early start. Gortat's struggles have been mentioned. Dudley has been terrible with the ball but I expect him to get it together as he gets into shape. Otto has made too many considering how low usage he is. I assume this is something we'll improve on over the course of the year.

[fishercob]

I haven't gotten laid in months.

That can't be. That just cannot be. Now I just don't know what to believe in.

Don't worry my friend. It's been of my own accord. Trying to develop my will power. Right now I am approaching Zen Buddhist monk status. Monks believe that ejaculation is the exit of life force or "chi" from your body. You are depleting your body every time you ejaculate. Like opening a spigot on a water tank. Haw haw but not me! I'm just building up that water pressure slowly but surely, becoming more powerful every day!

Seems plausible.

[Dat2U]

I haven't gotten laid in months.

That can't be. That just cannot be. Now I just don't know what to believe in.

Don't worry my friend. It's been of my own accord. Trying to develop my will power. Right now I am approaching Zen Buddhist monk status. Monks believe that "edited for workplace reasons lol" is the exit of life force or "chi" from your body. You are depleting your body every time you "edited for workplace reasons lol". Like opening a spigot on a water tank. Haw haw but not me! I'm just building up that water pressure slowly but surely, becoming more powerful every day!

You build up too much of it and it can make you go insane.

The Buddhist religion is well intention-ed but much like Christianity, there's a lot of dogma involved with it. The traditions and practices associated with it have changed or have been lost in translation over the centuries since it originally began. There's definitely some good to be taken from it but like everything else, your figuring out the truth vs what's complete BS.

As far as what you do with your own devices, much like anything else, moderation is the key.

[AFM]

That can't be. That just cannot be. Now I just don't know what to believe in.

Don't worry my friend. It's been of my own accord. Trying to develop my will power. Right now I am approaching Zen Buddhist monk status. Monks believe that "edited for workplace reasons lol" is the exit of life force or "chi" from your body. You are depleting your body every time you "edited for workplace reasons lol". Like opening a spigot on a water tank. Haw haw but not me! I'm just building up that water pressure slowly but surely, becoming more powerful every day!

You build up too much of it and it can make you go insane.

The Buddhist religion is well intention-ed but much like Christianity, there's a lot of dogma involved with it. The traditions and practices associated with it have changed or have been lost in translation over the centuries since it originally began. There's definitely some good to be taken from it but like everything else, your figuring out the truth vs what's complete BS.

As far as what you do with your own devices, much like anything else, moderation is the key.

Spoken like a true Chi depleted serial masturbater. I see you live in Columbus, OH, so I understand. Idle hands are the devils tools, they say.

[AFM]

I can sense your low Chi levels from here.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11760788?dopt=Abstract

These data demonstrate that acute abstinence does not change the neuroendocrine response to orgasm but does produce elevated levels of testosterone in males.

My test levels are through the ROOF! I would fail an AAS test right now!

[closg00]

So the plan going into the off-season was to field a team that would play at high-speeds and shoot the corner 3. What we did was get two players coming-off of back and foot surgeries perspectively, and a mediocre guard in Neal, and combine them with aging front court players and a converted stretch-4 in Humphries. This is a tall-order for Randy, Wall/Beal cannot do it all.

If we're gonna run, throw KO into some line-up mixes even if he is raw, he couldn't be worse than Neal right now.

To be fair, EG didn't exactly have a lot of options. He had to add these players using only cap exceptions and without adding any long term salary. You don't get top notch players one 1-year deals for sub-MLE money during an offseason when Enes Kanter, Wes Matthews and Tristan Thompson got max or near-max money.

A couple of small moves we could have made that would have furthered the stated goals while maintaining our cap flexibility.

Draft Portis
Waive Temple, keeping that roster spot open
Sign Gerald Green (mad hops) instead of Gary Neal, Neal was signed before Green was signed.
Give Perry Jones a shot with an unguranteed 1-year deal (Perhaps leave a spot for a D_Leaguer)

Now these ^ guys can fly.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I have five concerns when watching the Wiz...

1. Hump & Porter are not effectively spacing the floor. They may be shooting 3s... teams are still not respecting it... yet. I expect Porter to bounce back and find his stroke and make teams pay. Hump... will need to make teams pay first, either way it leads into problem #2 below. Hump has yet to earn the respect of NBA defenses... despite shooting so well from mid-range and this has been a consistent drag on our offense whenever Hump is in the lineup. I'm not sure Hump taking 1-2 3s a game will ever change this. Either he starts letting the 3s fly or having him as the starting PF may simply not work.

2. Teams are taking away the Wall/Gortat P&R by cheating off Hump & Porter and it's severely impacting Gortat's effectiveness offensively. He's been a TO machine. Nene may be out of the starting lineup but it's not helping Gortat any right now offensively and is hurting him defensively (going from Nene to Hump is a huge step down on the defensive side).

3. Bradley Beal's defense. Is it just me or has it been really bad? It seems to me he's resting on that side of the ball a bit more... possibly due to the pace of the game and the fact he's trying to be more aggressive offensively. I'm not too concerned yet and certainly it's only 3 games but it's something that bears watching.

4. Gary Neal. Please, just please someone get him off the court! He's a train wreck on both sides of the ball. He's a complete ball-stopper offensively and his defense is even worse! IMO he's a long ways away from not being a total disaster on the court too. I would look at cutting him or buying him out right away. This is why the Alan Anderson injury really hurt us. Neal has absolutely killed us in 56 minutes so far this season. At some point the coaching staff will have to recognize this or it could really hurt us going forward. No reason not to play Temple instead. IMO we *could* have beaten the Knicks if Temple had played instead of Neal. The defensive rotations would have been much sharper and Temple certainly doesn't dominate the rock & stagnate ball movement offensively.

5. TOs. Wall has been way too loose with the ball for comfort. His TOs are the one black mark so far on his early start. Gortat's struggles have been mentioned. Dudley has been terrible with the ball but I expect him to get it together as he gets into shape. Otto has made too many considering how low usage he is. I assume this is something we'll improve on over the course of the year.

Put Gooden in Hump's place is SO obviously a step in the right direction. Last playoffs Humphries didn't play against Toronto. What clicked was Gooden and Pierce playing PF.

Temple ahead of Neal is fine, but give Neal credit for the game one win. He was very solid.

Gortat's having problems defensively and offensively with the current lineup. Offensive fouls and reaching fouls, and the opponents have disrupted many PnRs. Gooden would help some or Dudley when in shape.

Instead of playing Temple I think let Oubre get in there since they used a pick on him.

[Higga]

The problem is Gooden can't defend. Of course we as a team so far aren't defending at all, so I guess maybe we go all out and just commit to offense.

[manifested]

I'm guessing the lack of healthy SFs are influencing this. With Webster and Anderson out, Dudley still getting back into playing shape, and Oubre still getting his feet wet, Porter is playing most of his minutes at the 3 while Gooden and Humphries split the minutes at the 4.

The team has been sloppy and a big part of it is the 4s not knowing what to do out on the perimeter (both with and without the ball). Gooden and Humphries are just not that comfortable doing anything but shoot from out there.

It's also hard to play with pace when you have two unathletic big men (Gortat/Nene with Gooden/Humphries) on the floor for most of the game. I agree with Tontoz. I think we'll soon see this morph into space without as much pace at least until two of Dudley, Anderson, or Oubre can take a larger chunk of forward minutes.

[DCZards]

The team has been sloppy and a big part of it is the 4s not knowing what to do out on the perimeter (both with and without the ball). Gooden and Humphries are just not that comfortable doing anything but shoot from out there.

This is a very good point. Neither Gooden nor Hump are naturals at that S4 position...and it shows with their inability to handle and/or create for themselves or others when the 3 is not there. I almost prefer to see Hump go back to being a true PF with the focus of his offense being that midrange jumper that he shoots so well.